Many schemes of professional development for teachers, as well as advanced teaching certificates, include an element of ‘Action Research’ (AR). In my work as a team leader of EFL tutors, I’ve come to see just how important AR is for teachers to continue to develop and professionalise their teaching practices. And I’m so enthusiastic about teachers doing research that I want to share some introductory thoughts with a wider audience – with you, my dear blog readers! I hope I can inspire you to start your own AR projects and would love to hear what you get up to!
So what is ‘Action Research’ for teachers? Basically, AR is any small-scale research conducted by a practising teacher which looks at any aspect of how a class is run and is particularly aimed at answering a question or addressing a difficult or controversial issue. The results of the research can then be used by the teacher (and colleagues if the results are shared) to inform future practice and to suggest solutions to any problems or puzzles caused by the controversial issues/questions.
With this definition, ‘action research’ can be broken down into the following concrete phases:
- formulation of the research question,
- background reading (optional),
- developing (and maybe piloting, or evaluating with colleagues) a method of data collection,
- data collection,
- collating & analysing data,
- reflection & drawing conclusions.
Once conclusions have been drawn, these can lead to the formulation of a consequent action plan or changes in teaching practice, and/or the dissemination of the research findings.
These phases may make AR sound like a very time-consuming and serious experimental endeavour, but it really isn’t!! An AR project can be as large and time-consuming, or as quick and small, as the teacher wants it to be. Most of the time, you can ‘research’ whilst teaching. You start with something you’d like to find out, change something minor in your teaching, and reflect on the outcome. The research question could focus on a local issue connected to one specific class or school, such as getting shy learners to speak more, dealing with unruly behaviour, encouraging more engagement with homework tasks, or trialling things like project-based learning, peer-review etc. You could try a new technique to investigate possible & necessary adaptations for particular teaching contexts. You might also want to try combining ideas from published sources and developing a new technique which could then be shared with others. Often, I’ve found informal staffroom chats highlight potential AR topics, so just keep your ears open!
The ‘how’ question can seem a big deal, especially if calling it ‘data collection’ reminds you of big scientific investigations! But in AR, you can choose any way to gather the information that is relevant to your research question. It could be as straightforward as keeping a journal of your lessons and your reflections on them, maybe asking to sit in on a colleague’s lesson to see how they approach a certain issue, or even ask your students to give you their opinions on certain aspects of the classroom/lesson setup. The key thing is reflecting on what you find out and how you can apply it to your teaching!
If you are approaching AR for the first time, you might like to talk through your ideas with a colleague who’s done some AR before or collaborate with another colleague to emphasise the reflective nature of AR. I would also love to hear about your AR projects and can mentor you through the process if you wish.
What I really love about AR is that it can open up dialogue among teachers! That’s why I’d love for you to get in touch, and would also encourage any teacher who has conducted AR to share their findings publicly, e.g. on a blog or in a teaching magazine or newsletter.
Here are some other links and blog posts that are worth a look, if you’re interested in finding out more about AR:
British Council: Exploring our own classroom practice.
Nellie Mueller: Action Research Projects
This is a re-blog post originally posted by Clare Fielder and published with kind permission.
The original post can be found here.
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